Pellet stoves are forgiving machines installed correctly and unforgiving shortcuts, the difference lives in five requirements, all boring, all checkable, all cheaper than their absence. In the order an inspector would walk them:
1. Listed appliance, listed placement
The unit carries a testing-lab listing, and its manual specifies clearances to combustibles, rear, sides, corners, typically modest (pellet shells run cool) but exact. Placement honors them or adds listed wall shields. The manual is the code here, same principle as gas installs.
2. The hearth pad
Non-combustible floor protection sized per the listing, extending specified distances beyond the stove’s footprint, ember and heat protection for carpet and wood floors. Prefab pads handle most cases; tight rooms sometimes want tile-built solutions.
3. Venting: the load-bearing requirement
4. Air and power
An outside-air kit (direct combustion-air intake) is required by some listings and smart in tight homes regardless, it decouples the stove from house-pressure fights. Electrical: a grounded outlet, ideally surge-protected, the control board is the stove’s brain and Texas storm season has opinions about electronics.
5. Commissioning: the proof
A live burn cycle with the installer present: ignition, steady-state flame quality, blower function, and, critically, the safety chain test, vacuum switch and snap discs proving they’ll shut things down when asked. Plus the owner walkthrough: hopper habits, ash schedule, the maintenance rhythm.